1987 3251 trailing arm....question
 

Revived this thing..motor.interior, body, convertible top...time to align. Alignment shop can't fix the left rear "toe-out" of 1.76%. They refer me to another shop who says they can fix toe-out of up to .5% with eccentric bushings but advise that I get a used trailing arm as it has suffered a left rear quarter panel hit/curb bump. I've got a "u-pull-it place within 20 miles...$ 7.99 for a trailing arm..hard to beat it What am I goin to need to pull this off a wreck guys....tool wise...anything weird? Or just basic ratchet and open end metric sockets and wrenches. I hate to get halfway through a job sitting in the mud in a junkyard to realise that I'm missing a critical tool.:(

removing a trailing arm can be a lot of work, depending on how much has already been stripped off the car in the boneyard. You will need to remove the wheels, brake calipers, sway bar end link, and the driveshafts. Getting the driveshaft out will be the biggest problem as you will need a special puller to drive it out of the wheel hub. This may be a problem as you will need some way to support the car, and I doubt the yard will provide you with jackstands. Plus it may be downright dangerous as it's probably sitting in the dirt, and you really can't use a jack or jackstand on an un-even surface. Even then, the trailing arm may be bent or cracked. I'd check our used parts forum, if you place an ad, someone may have one. At $305 an arm, i would look for a good used one too.

This may not be a bent arm. It is possible that the bushings are simply worn and need replacement, in which case there is a special BMW tool that will allow you to replace them with the arm still on the car. Otherwise, you'll have to strip down everything to get to them. Also, have you checked things like shock mounts, sway bar links, wheel bearings? They can also cause faulty alignment readings.

If you send me your email address, i can send you an article on how to do it.